LET’S MOVE TO WAYNEDALE

In 1919 my father, Edgar B. Noble Sr., bought 5 acres at the southwest corner of Indianapolis Road (then State Road 1, now McArthur Drive) and Lewisburg Road (now Ideal Avenue). The east boundary was the L. E. & W, (leave, early and walk railroad). This area was enjoying the greatest population growth of any rural community and my dad decided that this would be a good place to start a business.

The summer of 1920 was spent building a 24′ X 32′ structure close to the road. This closeness to the road attracted a local oil company to install, at no charge, “B Square” gas. Ethyl, with lead added, was 2 cents per gallon more. These pumps operated for 23 years. Each pump had a 10-gallon glass bowl. The gas was pumped by hand to the bowl and gravity fed by hose to the customer’s tank. Disputes about draining the hose always ended in the customer’s favor.

There was a demand for a local store and a decision was made to provide one, after 18 neighbors passed a petition for us to sell groceries. This petition gave my dad assurance that the grocery store would be successful.

Many good people were arriving in Waynedale to enjoy a country way of life, in wide-open spaces. There were very few homes, so there was a wide choice of large and small lots with few neighbors.

Inexpensive taxes and the success of General Electric gave Waynedale the reputation of being a ‘Bedroom Community’.

Summer times were filled with gardening while fall brought about canning and cold storage. Our home was close to a five-foot high-mounded fence. This was an ideal lateral dig with still enough slope toward the opening for drainage. All kinds of covering materials were used along with a lot of dirt to keep the root cellar temperature above freezing. This winter storage pit served for many years storing all kinds of fruits and vegetables. When Spring sprung, out of the pit came seed potatoes with annual instructions for planting …cut and plant with one eye pointing up.